This is an eco-political blog written for the sole purpose of participating in the conversation. It is a place to talk about most politics with a concentration on sustainability news and issues, state and local politics and progressive issues.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Government Shut Down

The press is on a field day about how the U.S. Government is on the brink of a shut down. The “moderate” republicans are praying that the Tea Partiers will compromise, the Tea Partiers want to push as hard as they can and the Democrats seem ready to sit back and let a shut down happen.

What usually happens in a Federal Government shut down, or at least what happened last time under President Clinton at least from an operations standpoint, was that “non-essential” government workers were put on furlough and “non-essential services” were suspended for a total of 25 days between 1995 and 96.

By the way, if you do check out the News Max article about President Clinton's comments, I really love the fact that he is certain "It will not have the traumatic effect it probably had last time."Honestly, I do not think that there will be a shut down, and if there will be, that we will do what humans and Americans are currently doing, adapt.

All in all it does not look good for Speaker Boehner who has been pushing for a budget deal and massive cuts at the same time. According to some polls, most support spending cuts over a shutdown, which seems very straight forward and like a “non-question.” Many are concerned about their benefits or the plight of Federal workers and, for the most part, there is some reason to be. The budget is in crisis, not just because of mismanagement or waste or “overspending” but because the economy imploded. The source of revenue for our country was effectively neutered and now we are scrambling to find a way to deal with it. In my mind we have a huge problem with where are resources are going. We spend far too much on military and far too little on investing in our future – education. In my mind this is what should be invested in instead of cut. Oh well, I don't run things.

And once again, wrapping up with an excellent and poignant mark of absurdity towards the issue, here is the ever amazing, Steven Colbert.